U.S. 98 N.small business owners says no power may force them to close

Small businesses along U.S. 98 North fighting to stay afloat say they fear they’re getting the short end of the stick when it comes to power restoration.

Mike Ferguson @mikewferguson

LAKELAND — Small businesses along U.S. 98 North fighting to stay afloat say they fear they’re getting the short end of the stick when it comes to power restoration.

“We have all these small businesses that are out of power,” said Jane Patternostro, owner of All American Discount Tires. “We have places like Walmart that are up and running.”

Patternostro said she was told by Lakeland Electric on Wednesday morning that it could be another two weeks before her location has power.

Patternostro has been at the location since 1989 and has been through significant storms such as Hurricane Charley.

In those cases, she said, the power has been restored in hours.

“We expect both (U.S. 98 North and South) to be re-energized within 24 to 48 hours,” Cindy Clemmons, a spokeswoman for Lakeland Electric, told The Ledger Wednesday afternoon. “We do a worst-case snapshot.”

According to a fact sheet sent from Clemmons, once damage assessment takes place and repairs to vital facilities such as water and wastewater are made, the goal is to restore the greatest number of people as soon as possible.

The only entities, she said, that are expected to spill into next week are those with major clean-up damage involving trees and downed lines.

“I know the business owners are absolutely worried, but our workforce has grown exponentially over the last few days,” Clemmons said in reference to bringing in crews from North Carolina and Oklahoma, among other states.

“I’m excited that everyone seems to be in sync,” she said.

According to Lakeland Electric’s website, about 23,000 of 125,000 customers are still without power, which amounts to about 18 percent.

For the business owners, however, time is of the essence.

“I’m just really stressed out,” said Casey Matthews, owner of Blondie’s Hair Salon. “My business depends so much on electricity. We have four blocks of businesses here that don’t have power.”

Katherine Erdly, manager of West Coast Pawn and Gun, said during a time like Hurricane Irma is when local residents need a pawn shop most of all.

“We’re the ones who supply people money when they really need it,” she said. “I just want to be able to lend money to our patrons who can’t afford the extra stuff they need right now. It just seems like the moms and pops are the ones that are being nixed.”

Commissioner Justin Troller met with some of the owners Wednesday morning.

“I absolutely understand their frustration; it’s their livelihood,” Troller said. “Lakeland Electric is doing everything they can. Lakeland Electric doesn’t make money unless the power is on. We’re not cherry-picking who gets power and who doesn’t.”

Troller said during a hurricane, customers should be prepared to be self-sustaining for 72 hours.

The business owners say they have been without power since overnight Saturday.

“It’s very discouraging to see just the big businesses opening,” Patternostro said. “If they don’t fix this soon, these small businesses are going to have to close.”

Patternostro estimates that she has lost between $15,000 and $20,000 since the power outage.

Erdly said the pawn shop, which is open seven days a week, is losing between $3,000 and $4,000 daily.

Matthews, who has owned her business for six years, said her losses are about $5,000 or $6,000 per week, but noted that many appointments were canceled prior to the outage, so that customers could evacuate.

“We don’t really have a lot of money,” Matthews said. “I sold my truck on Craigslist one night and bought my business the next day. If I don’t get up and running in the next day or so, I’m going to lose some of my employees. A lot of them are single-parents.”

For Edwin Afante, owner of Providence Pharmacy, his primary concern is health.

“Power is everything,” he said. “People tend to not realize all the problems that can occur (without power).”

Afante’s business line is down, but he said he has received about 20 calls from customers on his cellphone and his technician has received about 10 more.

Without power, Afante’s generator isn’t strong enough to power his computer. He said he is able to refill prescriptions if customers bring him a bottle with a label, but cannot fill new prescriptions without power.

“I can’t get my dad’s heart medication, because they’re the only ones who have the script and they’re without power,” Rebecca Hawkins said. “Right across the street has electric. You have the next block down that has electric.”

Hawkins said her 91-year-old father, George Watters, has been without medication since Sunday. Hawkins herself is on pain medication for her back and said she has tried to get prescriptions filled at Walgreen’s, CVS Pharmacy, Walmart and Publix, but to avail.

Afante said he also has a handful of patients who are diabetics and can't get insulin.

Afante along with the other business owners have looked into purchasing generators, but they are hard to find, and in some cases, too expensive.

Matthews said a generator large enough to power her business would cost upwards of $15,000.

“We would probably have to get a really big generator,” Patternostro said. “I don’t know where I could get one of those or if I could even afford it.”

Mike Ferguson can be reached at Mike.Ferguson@theledger.comor863-401-6981. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson.

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